Outside the Frame: A hurt Afghan girl flown on medevac helicopter

Persia, 7, looks up as she flies onboard a Medevac helicopter from the US Army's Task Force Lift "Dust Off," Charlie Company 1-214 Aviation Regiment to the next military hospital outside Sangin, in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan, Tuesday, June 7. Persia received head injuries after falling off a truck and was taken by her father to the next ISAF outpost seeking medical help.

From Associated Press photographer Anja Niedringhaus:

It was noon when the call came in to the Army medevac unit I’m embedded with in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. And this time, it wasn’t about a wounded soldier. The Marines were calling about a 7-year old Afghan girl named Persia who had fallen off a truck.The medevac unit, Charlie Company 1-214, sprang into action — in less than five minutes they were airborne. Within a minute of landing, Persia and her father were on our helicopter and heading to Camp Bastion, where her head could be scanned.For Persia, the flight was unreal — she could have been on the moon. She stared at me as if to ask, ”Where are we?” Her father’s face was lined with worry. At one point during our 15-minute flight, Army Chief Spc. Jenny Martinez reached out and put a small, white teddy bear on Persia’s chest. Persia seemed to recognize the toy, but I think she was still in shock and confused about where she was.When we arrived at Camp Bastion, a British army ambulance was waiting at the landing strip, and Persia and her father were taken to the hospital.